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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/2254

Title: Incidence of Zinc Deficiency Among Under-five Children of Kanam Local Government Area, North-central Nigeria
Authors: Jaryum, Kiri H.
Okoye, Zebulon S.C.
Stoecker, Barbara J.
Keywords: plasma
status
infections
signs,
symptoms
Issue Date: 2017
Publisher: Asian Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Series/Report no.: Vol. 9;No. 1: Pp 1-8
Abstract: Background: A survey of rural population of Kanam Local Government Area (LGA) North-central Nigeria for zinc deficiency was undertaken following the outcome of a pilot survey which suggested a prevalence of morphological and other clinical indicators of zinc deficiency among under-five years children. Objective: The objective of this study was to carry out a formal systematic investigation of zinc status of the under-five children of Kanam, North-central Nigeria. Materials and Methods: Incidence of zinc deficiency in the study area was determined by measuring plasma zinc, a biomarker of zinc status, in the most vulnerable group of the population, the under-5-year children and carrying out a household food consumption survey. Sixty six blood samples were collected from under-5-year children of randomly selected households across the LGA and analysed for zinc content by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrophotometry (ICP-MS). The households of the under-5 children were surveyed for the pattern and frequency of consumption of selected zinc-rich foods and for incidence of zinc deficiency related illnesses among the under-5 subjects by means of questionnaire. The resultant plasma zinc data were analysed statistically by the studentʼs t-test on SPSS version 17.0, the relationship between plasma zinc data of the under-5 subjects and their zinc-rich food consumption patterns was analysed by Pearsonʼs correlation analysis. Results: Mean plasma zinc concentration, 57.59±30.40 µg dLG1, was significantly below the normal. Thirty nine or 59.09% of the 66 under-5 subjects had plasma zinc content below the 61 µg dLG1 cut-off point for zinc deficiency. Incidence of zinc deficiency, as determined by plasma zinc was higher among male than female subjects. Conclusion: The results indicate a high incidence of zinc deficiency in the studied population. The population is therefore, at risk of zinc deficiency. There is a significant negative (r = -0.65) correlation between pattern of consumption of zinc-rich diet and zinc status, suggesting that prevalence of zinc deficiency may be due to zinc deficient staple diet. The risk of zinc deficiency is high enough and calls for a national intervention programme through public health nutrition interventions to improve the zinc status.
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/2254
ISSN: 1992-1470
Appears in Collections:Biochemistry

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